{66} Some fish were caught through the ice of the
river. But in nearly two months of walking only two deer were seen.

On Christmas Eve Hearne found himself on the shores of a great frozen
lake, so vast that, as the Indians rightly informed him, it reached
three hundred miles east and west. This is the Great Slave Lake;
Hearne speaks of it as Athaspuscow Lake. The latter name is the same
as that now given to another lake (Athabaska of Canadian maps)--the
word being descriptive and meaning the lake with the beds of reeds.

Hearne and his party crossed the great lake on the ice. A new prospect
now opened. Deer and beaver were plentiful among the islands. Great
quantities of fine fish abounded in the waters under the ice. As they
reached the southern shore, the jumble of rocks and hills and stunted
trees of the barren north was left behind, and the travellers entered a
fine level country, over which wandered great herds of buffalo and
moose. For about forty miles they ascended the course of the Athabaska
river, finding themselves among splendid woods with tall pines and
poplars such as Hearne had never seen. From the Athabaska they struck
eastward, plunging into so dense a forest that {67} at times the axes
had to be used to clear the way. For two months (January and February
of 1772) they made their way through the northern forest. The month of
March found them clear of the level country of the Athabaska and
entering upon the hilly and broken region which formed the territory of
the Northern Indians. At the end of March the first thaws began,
rendering walking difficult in the bush. In traversing the open lakes
and plains they were frequently exposed to the violent gales of the
equinoctial season. By the middle of April the signs of spring were
apparent. Flocks of waterfowl were seen overhead, flying to the north.
Their course was shaped directly to the east, so that the party were
presently traversing the same route as on their outward journey and
making towards Wholdaia Lake. The month of May opened with fine
weather and great thaws. Such intense heat was experienced in the
first week of this month that for some days a march of twelve miles a
day was all that the travellers could accomplish. Canoes were now
built for the passage of the lakes and rivers. By May 25 the
expedition was clear of all the woods and out on the barren grounds.
They passed the Cathawachaga river, still covered with ice, {68} on